Removable article supporting device for automatic dishwasher rack



June 24, 1969 E. L. MACOICZ 3,451,556

REMOVABLE ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER RACK Filed April 12, 1967 Sheet of 2 11' l -,J f u 3 33 3| 3|- 3 29 3 W7 29 12 r P 32. U 30 INVENTOR. EDWARD L. MAcomz PM W June 24, 1969 E. MACOICZ REMOVABLE ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE FDR AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER RACK Sheet Filed April 12.v 1967 INVENTOR. EDWARD 1... MACOlCZ H \S ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,451,556 REMOVABLE ARTICLE SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC DISHWASHER RACK Edward L. Macoicz, Glendale, Wis., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Apr. 12, 1967, Ser. No. 630,357 Int. Cl. A47g 19/08; A44b 21/00; A47f /14 US. Cl. 211-41 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device removably secured to the reticulated base of a dishwasher rack to support against tipping articles resting on the base. The article comprises a generally U- shaped member having two fingers interconnected by a bight portion. A pair of indentations or concave portions receive two of the wires forming the base to secure the device thereto. Resiliency of the device allows manual flexing of the fingers toward one another to allow movement relative to, or removal from, the base.

Background of the invention The present invention may be employed with a conventional automatic dishwasher of the type normally used in the home. Such dishwashers generally include two dish-supporting racks, one spaced above the other, with a wash mechanism disposed below the lower rack to spray wash fluid up through the racks. Articles, such as plates, bowls, cups, glasses and cooking pans are supported within the racks in an attitude to facilitate washing thereof. A conventional dishwasher rack has a generally horizontally disposed foraminous base, or bottom wall. The base is usually formed of wire elements welded together in crisscross fashion. A plurality of upwardly projecting wire elements are permanently affixed to the base elements in spaced relationship to each other. The articles to be washed are inserted into the rack to rest on the base and the upwardly projecting elements maintain the articles in the proper attitude for washing. For example, a plate or a saucer is maintained substantially on its edge so that both surfaces of the'plate or saucer will receive the desired action of the wash fluid issuing from the wash mechanism and the liquids will drain therefrom upon completion of the wash operation. Large bowls or cooking pans are generally placed. in the rack upside down as are glasses and cups. Frequently, however, some articles such as large bowls and cooking pans are not compatible with the upwardly projecting elements. That is, the upwardly projecting elements interfere with the article and prevent it from resting firmly on the base. As a result, the article may not assume, or remain in, the proper attitude to facilitate washing and draining thereof.

The present invention solves this problem by providing an improved article supporting device which will perform the function of the upwardly projecting elements,

when desired, but which may be completely removed from the dish-supporting rack when articles with which such upwardly projecting elements may interfere, are to be washed. Moreover, the device may be moved from one position to another on the rack thus allowing adjustment.

Summary of the invention The present invention relates to an automatic dishwasher having a dish-supporting rack with a base formed from wire-like elements with at least two of the elements being spaced from each other. An article supporting device is provided and comprises a generally U-shaped member having two fingers and a bight portion therebetween. Means are provided adjacent the bight portion to removably secure the member to the elements of the reticulated base.

In a specific embodiment of the present invention, the article supporting device comprises a generally U-shaped member having two fingers interconnected by a bight portion and means to removably secure the member to the base including a concave portion to at least partially receive one of the elements.

Brief description of the drawings While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following description of the preferred embodiment taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partially cut away to show details, of an automatic dishwasher employing the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the base of one of the dish-supporting racks of the dishwasher of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the preferred form of the article supporting device of the present invention.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIG- URE 1 thereof, there is illustrated an automatic dishwasher 10 having an outer cabinet 11 and an inner cabinet 12. Inner cabinet 12 defines a wash chamber 13 having dish-supporting racks 14 and 15 disposed therein. Door 16 provides access to wash chamber 13 by pivoting about a hinge (not shown) between a substantially vertical closed position, as illustrated in FIGURE 1, and a substantially horizontal open position. When door 16 is in its open position, dish-supporting racks 14 and 15 may be at least partially withdrawn from wash chamber 13. Withdrawl of rack 14 is provided -'by a slide and roller system 17 which slidably supports rack 14 from inner cabinet 12. Similarly, rack 15 is supported by a plurality of rollers 18 which ride upon tracks 19 extending into wash chamber 13 from inner cabinet 12, only one roller 18 and one track 19 being visible in FIGURE 1.

The lower extremity of wash chamber 13 is defined by a bottom wall 20 which supports a motor-pump assembly 21. Motor-pump assembly 21 comprises an electric motor 22 and a pump 23. Pump 23 has an inlet 24 through which wash fluid is drawn from the lower portion of wash chamber 13 to be propelled upwardly through a reaction type spray device 25 or out through an effluent discharge (not shown) connected to the normal household sewer system. Whether the fluid is pumped through spray device 25 or out through the effluent discharge may be controlled either by a valve or by having pump 23 of the reversible type and electrically reversing the direction of rotation of motor 22. Spray device 25 has a plurality of orifices 26 to effectuate a wash action upon articles supported by racks 14 and 15 and an orifice 27 positioned to rotate spray device 25, about a substantially vertical axis, due to the reaction force of the fluid issuing from orifice 27.

The structure thus far described comprises a substantially conventional undercounter, or drop door, dishwasher. It is to be understood, of course, that the present invention is equally applicable to a portable dishwasher of the top opening variety or any other type having a dishsupporting rack with a base formed from wire-like elements. Moreover, the structure as thus far described may vary considerably from that shown without seriously atfecting the present invention as will become more evident as this description proceeds.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, a portion of the rack 14 is illustrated along with the improved article supporting device of the present invention. Specifically, a portion of the reticulated base 28 of rack 14 is shown. Base 28 is formed by a plurality of substantially parallel wirelike elements 29 rigidly secured to a second set of wirelike elements 30, also substantially parallel to each other. Thus, elements 29 and 30 by being suitably secured together, by such means as welding, form a rigid, unitary reticulated base for dish-supporting rack 14.

Referring again briefly to FIGURE 1, it can be seen that rack 14 is provided with a peripheral structure projecting upwardly from base 28 to assure that articles placed within rack 14 do no project beyond the extremity thereof and thus interfere with the movement of the rack 14 into and out of wash chamber 13. The peripheral structure is provided by bending elements 29 upwardly adjacent their ends and providing elements 31, which also project upwardly from base 28, and by further interconnecting the ends of elements 29 and elements 31 with lateral elements 32. Thus, a rigid unitary basket-like structure is formed by securing elements 29, 30, 31 and 32 to one another at their points of intersection. The elements comprising rack 14 may be formed from stainless steel wire; however, a more conventional method is to form the elements from plain steel, weld them together to form the unitary structure and then cover the elements with a corrosion resistant coating such as a polyvinyl chloride composition.

A conventional rack of this general nature, would additionally include a plurality of permanently aflixed elements projecting upwardly normal to, and spaced throughout the entire area of base 28. However, as discussed above, such permanently afiixed upwardly projecting elements frequently interfere with the placement of large bowls or cooking pans into rack 14.

In accordance with the present invention, an improved supporting device 33 is provided which may be removably secured to rack 14 to serve the function of the permanently aflixed upwardly projecting elements but which may also be removed or adjusted to avoid interference with such articles as large bowls or cooking pans or whenever any other use of rack 14 may dictate the absence of upwardly projecting elements. Supporting device 33 comprises a generally U-shaped member having two fingers 34 and 35 interconnected by a bight portion 36. Means are provided adjacent bight portion 36 to removably secure the U-shaped member to either elements 29 or elements 30. Such means may take the form of indentations or concave portions, 37 and 38 in fingers 34 and 35 respectively, adapted to receive elements 28 or elements 29. Device 33 may be formed of a suitably non-corrosive material or, as discussed above with regard to the elements comprising rack 14, may be formed from a material subject to corrosion but protected by a corrosion resistant coating. In the preferred embodiment, the material from which device 33 is formed must have sufficient resiliency to allow fingers 34 and 35 to be manually flexed toward each other to allow the installation, removal or adjustment of the device 33. Device 33 is installed between two of the elements forming base 28 by passing fingers 34 and 35 upwardly between said elements until said elements are received within indentations 37 and 38.

If desired, device 33 may be formed from wire-like material of substantially the same diameter as the material forming elements 29 and 30, however, in the preferred form of the present invention, device 33 is formed from relatively flat and relatively narrow stock with twists 39 and 40 provided in fingers 34 and 35 respectively to provide rigidity throughout the length of each finger with the twist being substantially It should be realized that indentations, or concave portions, 37 and 38 could be deleted and replaced by similar indentations in bight portion 36 to receive the elements of base 14 without departing from the spirit of the pres ent invention. Moreover, it is conceivable that the indentations, or other means to secure device 33 to base 14, could take the form of separate elements secured to device 33 rather than being formed integrally therewith as in the preferred form of the present invention. It is not necessary that bight portion 36 be of a size to span only the distance between adjacent elements since, as shown in FIGURE 3, bight portion 36 may span two, or more, parallel elements depending upon the individual requirements of the dishwasher with which it is used.

Thus, it can be seen that the present invention provides an improved supporting device which will perform the function of conventional permanently affixed upwardly projecting elements, when desired, to support a plate 41 or a glass 42 against tipping, but which may be completely removed from the dish-supporting rack when articles are to be washed with which such permanently aflixed upwardly projecting elements may interfere.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects of the invention are not limited to the particular details of construction of the examples illustrated, and it is contemplated that various other modifications or applications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the appended claims shall cover such modifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an automatic dishwasher having a dish-supporting rack with a reticulated base formed from wire-like elements with at least two of said elements being substantially parallel to and spaced from each other, an article supporting device comprising:

(a) a generally U-shaped member having two fingers and a bight portion therebetween, and

(b) means adjacent said bight portion to removably secure said member to said base,

(c) said means including a concave portion on each of said fingers immediately adjacent said bight portion adapted to at least partially receive one of said substantially parallel, spaced elements, and

(d) said concave portion on each of said fingers being open outwardly away from the other of said fingers, whereby said U-shaped member is secured to said base by passing said fingers between said substantially parallel, spaced elements until said substantially parallel, spaced elements are respectively received within said concave portions.

2. In an automatic dishwasher having a dish-supporting rack with a base formed from wire-like elements with at least two of said elements being spaced from each other, an article supporting device comprising:

(a) a generally U-shaped member having two fingers interconnected by a bight portion, and

(b) means including two concave portions to removably secure said member to base, and

(c) said two concave portions being spaced from each other a distance substantially equal to the distance at which said two elements of said base are spaced from each other, whereby one of said two spaced elements is at least partially received in one of said concave portions and the other of said two spaced 5 elements is at least partially received in the other of said concave portions. 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said U-shaped member is formed of material having sufiicient resiliency to allow said fingers to be manually flexed toward each other to allow said member to be moved relative to said elements of said reticulated base.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said U-shaped element is formed from relatively flat and relatively narrow stock.

5. The invention of claim 4 wherein the stock forming each finger has a twist therein to provide rigidity throughout the length of each finger.

6. The invention of claim 5 wherein said twist is substantially 90.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 786,587 4/1905 Morgan 211181X 1,200,849 10/1916 Katzinger 2481X 5 1,652,936 12/1927 Heinz 211-181X 3,289,854 12/1966 Kauffman 211 41 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,228,939 9/1960 France. 10 510,671 1/1955 Italy.

US. Cl. X.R. 

